


a teenage beauty queen of sorts

by orphan_account



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Makeup, Online Friendship, Phil Lester Is A Sweetheart, YouTuber Dan Howell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:47:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: dan gets into the world of being a beauty guru, and phil’s just the cute admirer
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Phandom Writers Discord 2019 Holiday Gift Exchange





	a teenage beauty queen of sorts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/paradisobound/gifts).



> hello this is for alexis for the gift exchange for the writing server that we’re in together!!!
> 
> alexis i hope this didn’t stray from the prompt too much !! merry christmas <3

putting on makeup and experimenting with makeup is a form of stress relief for dan howell. it’s helping him get through university, and it helps dan’s self confidence issues (among others). 

but would he ever discuss it in public? no. absolutely not. he’s not ashamed, per se, but he’s a little bit shy about it.

dan doesn’t have anything to be shy about though, he lives in a place where he can freely express himself with little risk. people know that he’s gay as well, so it wouldn’t really bat anyone’s eye if he did wear makeup in public. even if he wasn’t gay, he doesn’t exactly fit in with everyone else his age either.

still. the feeling of being in public wearing makeup gives dan chills.

however, today’s one of those days where dan wants to wear makeup. 

his mum is still at work, so he decides to get up out of bed to dig through his dresser and find the palettes. they’re a little hard to find at first, considering he doesn’t really wear it all that often, but when he finally discovers them he makes a beeline for the bathroom to put it on. 

it’s not an elaborate look, but it’s still cute, and it makes dan feel pretty. 

he doesn’t hear the garage door opening though, so he’s very surprised when his mum just walks into the house a few hours later when he’s eating dinner.

“oh! hey mum, how was work?” dan asks, quickly wiping his lips with a napkin lying right next to his plate.

he knows it’s not going to work, but he’s panicking right now.

“work was okay, sweetie. you look nice today! did you get into my makeup stash?” she asks him.

dan shakes his head. “i’ve been buying whenever i get work bonuses.”

his mother smiles at him proudly. “it’s so nice to see you expressing yourself! i wouldn’t mind if you started wearing it more often. i think your friends at school would also love it.” 

he gives her a weak smile. “i’ll think about it.”

his mum leaves the room and he’s left eating the rest of his dinner.

_ would it really be awful or scary if he wore it at school? in front of his friends?  _

_ no, definitely not.  _

dan shrugs and tells himself he’ll decide in the morning. he puts his empty plate in the sink and heads upstairs to play guild wars, completely forgetting about it until the next morning when he gets ready for school.

he’s staring at the makeup spread out on his desk, and he contemplates wearing it to school. 

after staring at the pile for a good ten minutes, dan realises that the world isn’t going to end and that if makeup has helped him get through public speaking and other nerve wracking things, it’ll help him get through the fear of wearing it at school.

his head hurts thinking about the logic of that, so he just stops thinking and puts it on instead of dicking around on the xbox before he has to drive to school.

-

when he gets to the spot on campus where he and his friends (natalie, tyler, and pj) would normally meet, they’re all silent.

dan’s face falls the moment he looks natalie in the eye. “wait, do i look bad? i knew i shouldn’t have put it on-”

“no, dan, you look nice today! i didn’t know you wore makeup? you’re so good at it too!” natalie says abruptly.

“thanks? i mean, it’s just a normal, everyday look. nothing too special. i haven’t even been doing it for a long time.” he shrugs. he’s definitely pretending to play it cool instead of being a nervous wreck.

“i think it looks great,” tyler pipes up. “more guys need to embrace wearing light makeup in society. society is so obsessed with men wearing full on drag, and i’m like, ‘honey, who has the time for that?!’ anyways, keep doing you, you look fabulous!”

dan laughs.

“dan, you’re hot enough to be a beauty guru youtuber,” pj says. natalie and tyler gasp and start overlapping each other’s voices in their rush to agree

“guys,” dan interjects. “i don’t think i have the talent to become a beauty guru. even if i did, i’m not gonna get that many followers anyways.”

natalie scoffs. “whatever helps you sleep at night. let me see your pictures.”

dan rolls his eyes and hands natalie his phone. lying to her about the photos would’ve been useless anyways. tyler and pj crowd around her as she looks through the camera roll.

“i think you should post these on the internet! you clearly have a lot of talent with makeup, and the gays could use a white beauty guru who doesn’t have a questionable reputation,” tyler says. nat and pj both agree.

dan dismisses them. “again, as if i’ll get that famous anyway. it’s a growing and competitive industry.”

his friends all give him a questioning look. dan reconsiders. it probably wasn’t best to fight his friends when they’re dead set on an idea.

“alright, i’ll post it. but if i don’t get any attention i’m gonna say i told you so,” he warns.

natalie hijacks his phone again to make an instagram account and a youtube account using the disgusting msn name he used back in middle school. why she still remembers that name after ten years of being friends with him, he has no idea.

his eyes go wide when he reads it. “danisnotonfire?!” he squeaks, earning some stares from strangers around him. “really? what the hell, nat, we’re not thirteen.” 

natalie holds her arms up in surrender, and pj and tyler laugh at them both. “listen, it’s a catchy name and it’ll get people talking about you.”

dan sighs and just lets natalie work her magic on posting the first selfie, or what he assumes to be the first selfie. knowing her, she might have posted more than one.

tyler’s snooping over her shoulder and helping her out as well.

“don’t even think about it all that much. just post pictures of your cute twink selfies and you’ll be all set, baby.” natalie waves her hand to dismiss him. 

-

dan gets home from his only class that afternoon with a load of instagram notifications on his phone which confuses him, because he doesn’t have an instagram, until he remembers that natalie made him an account for his makeup endeavors. he certainly didn’t expect his profile to have already gotten over a hundred followers in the three hours the account has been up for.

he texts natalie and the rest of his friends about the news and they all start squealing at him over text, which he ignores and turns on do not disturb.

dan looks at the comments left on his post, many of which are complementary and uplifting to his dark, dark soul. there are still quite a few negative comments, but he deletes them when he sees them. there’s bound to be more, but he’s not gonna take the time to find every single one and delete it.

there’s one comment in particular that catches his eye, and it’s under the username ‘amazingphil’.

_ you’re so handsome! i hope you post more selfies! >_< _

it’s not all that different from what other people have said about this picture, but the way this ‘amazingphil’ person typed out his message and used a dead emoji from 2009 really speaks to him. maybe that’s just his inner emo coming out again.

is it really inner if he doesn’t hide it and still looks a scene kid reject?  _ unrelated, dan. shut up. _

dan taps on their profile and sees that,  _ holy fuck, they’re really cute _ . (if he’s gonna respond to someone, it should be someone cute.) so he double taps the comment and responds with a quick ‘thank you’ before closing the app and going onto youtube. the account that natalie made for him is already logged in, staring at him, basically yelling at him to do something.

it’s this particular moment that he remembers his ever growing pile of homework with approaching deadlines and winces.

on one hand, he needs to be responsible and take care of the homework he hasn’t caught up with. on the other hand, he could effortlessly indulge in his hobby but only this time, his looks will be online for the rest of the world to see.

he writes three sentences of his essay before shoving his computer (and all of his homework) underneath the bed and getting his makeup stuff out to do a new look and film it.  _ homework can wait, he should be having fun right now. _

dan’s quite awkward while filming, it is his first video after all. it’s clear in the shots that he’s nervous, so he redoes the takes for what seems like hours to try and make it perfect before saying  _ fuck it, just do it all in one take and go _ . (and if it absolutely sucks then he can always deactivate the channel and stick to instagram posts. his cute face can make up for his inability to speak.)

he takes a deep breath before starting. “hi, so, my name is...dan.”

-

the horribly unedited video somehow gains traction, probably because people recognised him from the selfies posted on instagram.

after dan posted the video, he immediately deleted the youtube app so that he wouldn’t get distracted from  _ finally  _ doing the homework he procrastinated on and checking what other people have said about it. 

it’s not until three days later when someone reminds him about the video. 

he was at the coffee shop right after class when the barista looks at him in shock after taking his order.

“you’re danis-snot-on-fire!” she says while making his drink. dan cringes when he hears that, but smiles softly. 

“yep, that’s me!” he laughs. 

she smiles. “so nice to see a beauty guru who’s actually funny. keep it up!”

“thank you!”

she hands him the caramel macchiato and he takes a sip. it suddenly hits him that  _ he posted a video about his makeup routine. _

dan gets home about half an hour later, and quickly logs into youtube on his computer to see what happened with it. 

_ 330k views, 100k comments, 58k likes _

he calls natalie on speed dial and she screams. dan winces as he pulls the phone away from his ear and puts her on speaker.

“dan!! your video is doing so well! look at you go!” she says excitedly.

dan chuckles. “thanks a lot. i’m glad that you liked it! it was, uh, an experience.”

“you have a lot of talent. your edgy sense of humor seems to work well with the video too. are you gonna make another one?” she asks.

dan thinks about it for a minute. “maybe? i still haven’t fully caught up on school work but i might find a few pictures to post tonight and edit those. posting selfies is easier than making videos.”

“why don’t i come over and help you out?” she offers.

“are you nuts, nat, i’m not letting you do my homework,” dan scoffs. “we’ll both get in trouble.”

“no! not that! i mean, i wouldn’t mind doing it cause my classes aren’t that hard now, but i meant helping you out with the video and the new insta post,” she clarifies.

“oh. y’know what, go ahead. my mum wouldn’t mind having you over, and i’m sure she misses you.” dan laughs.

“see you there!” she clicks the phone off before dan could say ‘bye’ back to her.

natalie arrives ten minutes later and the two of them immediately get to work on filming.

“how am i supposed to do this?” he asks.

nat shrugs. “i mean, how did you do the last video?”

“bullshit my way through it and just kept cracking jokes,” dan mumbles.

“there you go! it won’t be a perfect thing, but you could do that. it worked well, most people enjoyed it last time,” she points out. “you got this! don’t worry about it! don’t forget, i’m a film major i know how to edit your shitty mistakes out.”

dan takes a deep breath. “alright. time to film this bitch.”

-

a few weeks have gone by, and dan is at tyler’s house for a “study session,” otherwise known as “rant about your professors while pretending to do homework day.”

“who’s this amazingphil person who keeps replying to all of your posts?” tyler asks when dan gets back from the bathroom. he’s scrolling through dan’s instagram using dan’s phone.

dan shrugs. “not really sure but he’s cute as fuck and he replies with cute and dorky things on my insta stories.”

“he is! you’re so lucky finding a cute boy that’s not a jerk,” tyler says, groaning. “dammit, now i want a cute boy that’s not a jerk.”

“how would you know he’s not a jerk though? he’s just sweet-talking me on my posts probably.” dan points out.

tyler gives him a look. “i think you’re overreacting. why don’t i message him?”

“no!” dan yells, and leaps over to grab his phone back from tyler. maybe he should’ve put a password on the thing, but he can’t be arsed to do it. he can barely remember his school password as it is.

tyler moves his hand away, which causes dan to fall over and hit his head against the coffee table. 

“ow, what the fuck? tyler, he’s probably straight and taken, and just making funny jokes, leave him alone.” dan sighs, exasperatedly, and rubs his head. it’s better for him not to get his hopes up right now.

“too late, i already sent him the dm,” tyler says.

“YOU WHAT!?” dan shouts, in complete shock. 

tyler holds his hands up in defense. “you’ve been talking about how cute he is, so i thought i’d do something if you won’t”

dan stammers. “i was...gonna do something...in like fifteen years. i should be more appreciative of you, but also, if this crashes and burns it’s literally your fault.”

“fair enough. look, he responded to it!” tyler shrieks.

dan winces. “jesus, ty, calm the fuck down.”

“no! go look, what did he say?!” tyler shrieks, repeatedly tapping the table in his excitement.

dan takes the phone back from tyler, glaring at him. 

“thanks, you’re (obviously) very cute as well,” he reads in a deadpan voice. “tyler, that just proves my point, he doesn’t like me for anything other than my looks.”

tyler scoffs. “you haven’t even seen the funny comments he’s made on your instagram and twitter! when you posted that fish look, he said ‘anyfin is possible!’ that’s true love right there!”

dan gives him a skeptical look. “i’m starting to think you run a secret dan howell fan account or that you’re just really fast at scrolling through my things. back the fuck up there, mate.”

“look, try talking to him, and maybe you guys will hit it off. you never know if you don’t try. i just started for you.” tyler says.

dan looks at his phone for a minute, where phil’s instagram is still loaded, the follow back button staring back at him. 

he clicks the follow button and sighs. “i hope you’re right, ty.”

\- 

dan didn’t stop to think that following phil back on instagram a month ago would spark up more conversations between them. he didn’t stop to think about anything other than school and the youtube channel nowadays, and quite frankly, it’s starting to wear him out (not that he would admit it). sometimes he wouldn’t even have time to think about the youtube channel, as school is starting to drain him out of time.

back on track, it wasn’t too hard for dan and phil to ease into conversation as phil wasn’t a crazed fan and they were able to talk about things without being weird or awkward. phil’s been nothing but an angel, and talking to him helps dan manage and alleviate some of the stress he’s going through.

they’re on a skype together in the late evening, video calling in a comfortable silence while dan studies for his final and while phil’s reading a book.  _ pet sematary,  _ by stephen king.

they’ve been on the call since dan got home from school that day.

“fuck.” dan furiously erases his paper after getting a wrong answer for the fifth time. a hole rips into the paper and dan starts crying.

“dan?” phil asks, putting his book down. “are you alright? what’s wrong?”

“i just, i hate math.” dan sniffles. 

phil pouts. “no you don’t, you’re just stressed.” 

dan just sobs. “i really want to just do my makeup but i don’t have time for it, and i’ll be crying it off anyway.”

“take a break, you’re stressed out. i’d hug you if i was there.” phil says softly.

“i wish you were here,” dan says once he can get his breathing back to normal. “ i’m very upset and i want a hug.”

phil frowns. “is there anything i can do to make it better? say the word and i’ll do it.”

“send me a gigantic care package for my mountain of emotional distress.” dan jokes.

“what’s your address?” phil pipes up.

“phil!” dan laughs. “i was joking! don’t actually send me a gigantic care package, i’ll feel bad.”

“be quiet and let me spoil you,” phil points his finger to the camera. “now, what’s your address?”

dan’s heart practically explodes in his chest hearing phil talk about caring for him. “thank you, that means a lot. i’ll text it to you.”

phil smiles. “of course. now, do you want my help on the math homework or do you just wanna take a break for now?”

“mmm, break for now,” dan mumbles. “distract me. how’s your day going?”

phil pulls his computer closer towards him. “it was boring until we started calling. i hate writing emails. that’s the downside of working at home, everyone emails you and you’re expected to respond immediately.”

“don’t we all?” dan chuckles. “nice to see that your day is going better though.”

phil beams at that. “of course. you always make my days brighter!”

dan covers his face with sweater paws to hide the rosy blush on his cheeks.

oh shit, he’s definitely got a crush on phil lester.

-

“dan! come downstairs, you’ve got mail!” his mum shouts. it’s 8 in the morning, and dan’s been up since 6 because he’s still studying for his final.

dan perks up at that, turning off his music and running down the stairs. he almost trips and falls over. he really wasn’t expecting phil to pay for two day shipping, but he did, and dan’s happy.

“my goodness! what is in this package that’s got you so excited?” she asks him as he grabs the package out of her hands. 

“um, uh, just some more cds or whatever. can never get enough of those emo bands!” dan splutters, cracking into a nervous laughter. he hasn’t told her about phil yet, as her stance on internet friends was currently unknown.

“i keep telling you to save your money for school,” his mum sighs, pinching his cheeks. “but if this makes you happy, then go for it. i trust that you’re saving  _ some  _ of your other money. you’re working again in the summer, yeah?”

“yeah.” he doesn’t tell her about his whole youtube thing with the revenue. “thanks, mum. gotta go!” dan runs back up the stairs. surprisingly, he doesn’t trip.

dan fishes for his phone, which is tangled underneath his blankets, and calls phil on skype. he’s too impatient to power on his computer, so the grainy phone quality is gonna have to do for now.

phil picks up almost immediately.

“hullo, dan?” he answers, his voice still laced with sleep. he rubs his eyes and blinks a few times.

“did i wake you?” dan asks.

phil shakes his head. “no, i woke up like five minutes ago, but i’ll always be awake for you. what’s up?”

“oh yeah!” dan says into the phone. “the package! it’s here already!”

dan can hear him gasp. 

“open it!” phil burst out. 

dan chuckles. “alright, alright, calm your tits. i’m gonna put you on speaker while i open it.”

he realises he doesn’t have scissors when he sits down to open it, so he runs downstairs to grab them. this is more running than he’s done in weeks.

“hey, phil, i found the scissors! i’m gonna open it now,” dan calls out when he gets up there. “this feels really heavy, jesus christ.”

“yay!”

dan jams one end of the scissors into the taped end of the package and rips the box apart. inside, there was a hoodie, three candles, two books, a palette and a card. 

he reads the card out loud to phil before looking at the other things in the box. “to dan, here’s your self care package. don’t die on me please, i’ll be all alone. ps, take care of the hoodie, it’s my favorite one.”

dan puts the card over his heart. “phil, i don’t deserve you at all, what the hell? this is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“don’t say that about yourself! you deserve all the nicest things in the world.” phil grins.

dan wiggles himself into the hoodie, which smells like cologne. his heart warms at the thought of phil spraying his cologne to make it smell more like him. he sets the box on top of his dresser as a way for him to remind himself to take care of it later.

“thank you so much.”

“anytime.”

-

dan passes his finals for the winter term with solid b’s, leaving him with a 3.8 gpa. not too bad for his second quarter at university.

except now he’s stuck at his house for a whole week with nothing to do. his friends have gone back to their hometowns and natalie is busy with work. phil hasn’t been online all day, and dan’s getting anxious about it.

sure, that doesn’t mean that phil will be gone for the whole week, but will dan’s brain listen to him? definitely not.

he lounges around watching tv while his mum is at work and tries to film a video, only to get extremely distracted by the lack of phil’s texts. sue him, he’s needy.

he gets interrupted at around 5pm by the doorbell, assuming that his mum forgot to bring the house key with her again. 

dan rolls his eyes and opens the door without looking through the peep hole.

“mum, i told you-phil?!” dan shrieks. he leaps forward and hugs him tightly.

“you’re here!” dan squeals. “holy fuck, am i dreaming?”

phil chuckles. “no, absolutely not. surprise!”

dan’s eyes start watering. “i’m, i-, i don’t know what to say. i’m so happy you’re here! get inside!” he steps out of the way to let phil in. 

“i’m happy to be here with you,” phil says. dan smiles at him. 

they sit on the living room couch and dan practically lies in phil’s lap. phil’s playing with his hair now.

“how the fuck did you get here? why haven’t you visited me earlier, dork?” dan asks. he can’t stop smiling.

“i took a plane and a rental car, and i’ve been planning this for a month now because i knew spring break was coming up, and i didn’t want you to be lonely.” phil explains.

“phil, i love you.” dan mumbles.

“i love you too.”

they sit like that for a little bit, until dan’s mum comes home and tells them to go outside and get some fresh air. she doesn’t say anything about how they’re curled up next to each other, but dan assumes that it probably isn’t a big deal at all. 

they’re not even dating, although dan definitely wishes they were.

ms. howell tells them to be back in an hour for dinner once it gets out of the oven, and that phil is welcome to join them. 

they go out to the park across the street, mainly because neither of them feel like driving anywhere else, and sit on the swings to just talk and hang out.

after a very interesting debate about aliens, there’s a moment of silence between them, and dan thinks that  _ this is the right moment to tell him about my feelings. _

“phil, i’ve got something to tell you.” dan says, stuttering a little bit.

phil raises his eyebrow. “hm?”

“i, uh, i kinda maybe sorta like you like a lot and i wanted to wait until i met you in person and now we’ve met so i’m telling you,” dan says rapidly, and needs to catch his breath after that. “sorry.”

“dan, it’s okay. i like you too, yeah?” phil takes his hand, reassuring him that everything’s okay. “i kinda maybe sorta thought we were already dating when i sent you the package, though.”

they both laugh at that. “we’re real boyfriends now, yeah?”

“yeah, definitely.”

phil gets up from the swing and walks over to dan, pulling him into a kiss.

when they get back, they’re greeted with the savory smell of roast chicken, and they sit around the table with dan’s mum.

it makes dan feel special, and happy. very happy.

-

they hang out for a few more hours before it gets dark and both of them need to sleep. they pretty much spend that time kissing each other all over, but it doesn’t get any further than that because dan’s mum is downstairs.

they don’t feel the need to go any further, happy with just kissing and holding each other.

when they head downstairs, ms. howell is sitting in the living room reading a magazine. she puts her magazine down when she sees them come in.

“phil! i see you’re very close with my son, so why don’t you stay here for the night?” dan’s mum asks.

“ms. howell, i wouldn’t want to impose. thank you for the offer though, i might take it up later in the week. it was lovely meeting you.” phil offers his hand for her to shake, and she shakes it. 

“of course. please, come back soon!” she says with a smile. 

dan gives phil another tight hug, and phil kisses dan on the forehead. “i’ll see you tomorrow?”

dan nods and smiles in agreement. “definitely.”

they don’t close the door until phil’s car has pulled out of the driveway and out of sight.

dan’s about to head upstairs when his mum calls for him to turn around.

“yes?” dan answers, nonchalantly.

“you have a boyfriend?” she asks.

dan scratches the nape of his neck. “now i do. we didn’t really talk about it until earlier today.” 

she motions for him to come closer. “my baby is growing up, huh? don’t forget to use protection.”

“muuum.” dan groans. he feels like a kid again, hearing the talk from her all over again.

she laughs. “alright, we’ll stop talking about that. is he the one you’ve been on the phone with a lot?”

he nods. “i’m really excited to spend the rest of the week with him.”

“that’s wonderful, dan! has he been treating you well?”

dan blushes. “definitely.”

she smiles at him fondly. “that’s all that matters. i hope your relationship lasts and that he’ll continue to make you really happy.”

“i think he will, mum.” dan says. he yawns after that, tuckered out from the exciting day he had with phil. “goodnight.”

she says goodnight back to him as he heads up the stairs and gets ready for bed. 

right as he’s about to fall asleep, he sees a text from phil.

_ sweet dreams <3 goodnight, i lov u ^_^ _

dan giggles as he texts him back.  _ lov u too dork <3 _

they’re gonna be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> thank youuuu


End file.
